R/V Gloria Michelle

A research vessel came into the harbor late today and tied up to the east face of Straight Wharf. Her name is Gloria Michelle. NOAA owns her.

Here she is rounding Brant Point-


Not sure what the green apparatus is on her port side-


A closer look. Notice the crew filleting flounder-


The bow of Gloria Michelle-


The Marine Department has recently added a new boat to it's fleet. She's an inflatable from Provincetown and she looks to be an old Coast Guard boat-



This old wooden trawler-type boat caught my eye today. She's moored on the G row out in the mooring field. Her name is Final Frontier and she's from Annapolis. Is that a fake stack? I'm thinking it is-

Testing out a new feature

Trying out a new video feature. Let me know in the comments section how it is working.

Quiet & Still Waterfront

It was glassy calm and quiet around the waterfront early this morning. I grabbed a few shots.

Looking out over the mooring field from the docks-



Toscana's new barge and tug, "Bucky" unloading aggregate at the Steamship dock-



The end of Old North Wharf is always an interesting place to visit in the early morning especially at low tide. There is always good bird watching there if you are into that kind of thing.

A pair of Cormorants drying their wings along with a small gull I cannot identify. Can anyone assist?


And a Great Egret fishing for it's breakfast in the shallows-


Looking over towards Easy Street-


The exposed rocks at low tide at Old North Wharf-



And finally, two cats enjoying the early morning sunshine at George Andrew's scallop shanty-


Postscript:
I learned of a bit of sad news this afternoon. Gus was put to sleep this week. Gus was a fixture around the waterfront for almost 16 years. He went scalloping with his owner, Douglas "Smitty" Smith. Gus was a good dog. He will be missed around the docks and waterfront.

Quiet Waterfront

It is VERY quiet around the waterfront now. Much quieter than last year at this time. The Boat Basin is almost empty as well as the mooring field. I'm thinking that people are finally starting to realize that it's just too expensive to come here anymore. I hate to think what next season will look like. If establishments don't start lowering their prices, people are not going to come here in the future.

In any event, there is still a little activity around the docks. I witnessed a beautiful old boat motor into the harbor last week. Her name is Coastal Queen. Captain Tobey Leske e-mailed me with a bit of info on the old girl. She was built in 1928 and operated as an "Oyster Catcher" on the Chesapeake. Basically a buy-boat for the Skipjacks that dredged for oysters. Converted to a yacht in 1959. Thanks for the info, Tobey.

Here is a series of shots I took of the Coastal Queen. Notice her plumb bow in the first picture-





You can click on any picture to enlarge for a better look.

The conch guys are back up-and-running again after taking the month of August off. Here is Matt Herr and his mate, Joe Dooley loading pots onto Matt's boat, the Jean Marie at Children's Beach-


Here is Steve Walker and mate sailing in the main channel. Is that an Ottison boat? Sure looks like one to me-


And finally, Here is the 26' General Marine, Robin B coming back into the harbor with Scott Bowman at the helm-

Last Weekend Of Summer

The weather was spectacular out on the water or around the waterfront this last weekend of Summer.

Here are a few scenes-

Captain Jay Starr and his son scup fishing from the charter boat, Starrfish-


AGM Marine's barge and crane repairing pilings at the end of the Town Pier-


A few dogs seen around the docks-

Nice Late Summer Day

I've been out of the loop lately but was able to grab a few shots around the waterfront.
Enjoy.

Click on any picture to enlarge.

The offshore lobster boat, Merlin, coming in with a full load of pots-


Maurice Gibbs and his sailboat-


The Highlander. Does anyone know who owns her?



A nice little Nordic Tug in the mooring field-


And speaking of the mooring field, the wreck, Sargent, is STILL posing a severe hazard to navigation. It is going on three years now that the wreck has been there off Monomoy. I don't understand why this has been going on for so long. It is a miracle that nobody has crashed into it and has been killed as a result. Here is a picture of the wreck I took today at high tide-


A cormorant drying it's wings out in Hither Crick-


I saw what looks to be a coir bag on the beach at Quaise Point this afternoon-

Pre-Opera House Cup Race Scenes

Took my boat over to Brant Point today to watch the boats heading out to the race. I've never seen the channel so crowded before. Every conceivable boat was there milling around watching the boats head out to the starting line. It was so crowded that the Coast Guard had to clear a path for the ferries.

The clogged channel-



Standing room only for the spectators at Brant Point-


This little red chopper was buzzing around all day taking pictures-


Not a breath of wind out in the sound at the start of the race. I believe it was delayed for over two hours.


The Indiscretion 2 came into the harbor for a brief stay this afternoon. I believe she belongs to the Forbes family. Can anyone confirm this?

Windy Day/Opera House Cup/Plane Crash Pix

It was a very windy day around the waterfront today. Here's a shot of flags flapping and snapping on a bowed flagpole up on the cliff-


The fuel tanker, Great Gull, laying out in the sound waiting for the wind to die before coming in to unload at the Boat Basin-


Some scenes from Straight Wharf where all the Opera House Cup boats are docked waiting for the big race tomorrow-




Another huge sailboat made her way into the harbor yesterday. I was able to get up alongside her and follow her into the dock with my boat as she was slowly motoring down the main channel. Her name is Meteor and she's from George Town, Cayman Islands. She's currently Med-moored at the east face of Straight Wharf. It's worth a walk down there to have a look see.



(OT) Here are a couple of shots I took today of the plane that crashed at the base of the Loran tower last evening. (OT)



That is all for today.